Covetrus, Inc.

KTMC brought claims on behalf of the minority stockholders of Covetrus, Inc. (“Covetrus” or the “Company”) to challenge the take-private acquisition of the Company by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (“CD&R”) and TPG Global, LLC (“TPG”) for $21.00 per share in cash (the “Merger”).  Prior to the Merger, CD&R owned approximately 24% of Covetrus, and through that investment, CD&R was represented on the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) by two of its partners, Ravi Sachdev (“Sachdev”) and Sandi Peterson (“Peterson”).  Furthermore, CD&R’s investment agreement included a broad standstill provision that prevented CD&R from even expressing an interest in a transaction with the Company without prior Board authorization.  However, after certain third parties expressed an interest in a transaction with Covetrus in mid-2021, the Company’s CEO tipped off Sachdev and Peterson, and soon thereafter, CD&R was provided with diligence materials.  By December 2021, CD&R expressed—in violation of the standstill provision—that it valued the Company at $24.00 per share.  But in March 2022, TPG offered to acquire the Company for a price between $21.00 and $22.00 per share, and immediately thereafter, Covetrus teamed up with TPG and submitted a joint bid at $21.00 per share—$4.00 per share less than what CD&R had indicated the Company was worth only months earlier.  Only after the deal was nearly final, in May 2022, the Board formally granted a waiver of CD&R’s standstill provision.  The Company’s proxy statement filed in connection with the Merger contained numerous misleading statements and omissions, including with respect to CD&R’s violations of the standstill provision.  Plaintiffs filed a complaint in November 2023, and  in October 2024, the Delaware Court of Chancery denied Defendants motion to dismiss against CD&R, Sachdev, and Peterson.  The case is now proceeding into discovery and the parties are preparing for trial.